55 



duce very satisfactorily under the ameliorating influences of the prep- 

 aration and culture which such soils require. Draining first and 

 subsoiling afterwards are the chief requisites for gradual amelioration ; 

 in short, while a water-soaked clay is the most utterly worthless of all 

 lands for the growth of any crop, a properly drained and aerated clay 

 soil is by far the most valuable, and only requires careful management 

 to render it available for the best productions of the orchard, farm, or 

 garden. The prominent precaution in managing a clayey soil is never 

 to work on it while wet, but only when it is dry to friability. No expe- 

 dient or process of culture will compensate for the injury sustained by 

 working clay soils during summer, when saturated with water; the 

 injury can not be remedied except by a winter's freezing, which will 

 again produce friability, under proper treatment. 



Soils of a sandy or gravelly character are not well adapted to the 

 pear. In these soils, so variable in their degree of moisture, the trees 

 ripen prematurely and drop their foliage if the weather proves dry 

 towards the end of summer; then, in the event of moist weather fol- 

 lowing a period of drought, a late secondary growth will be produced, 

 which, failing to mature, induces a tendency to blight, and predisposes 

 to other diseases. Surface dressing of compost, repeated cultivation, 

 or constant mulching will counteract, to some extent, the effects of 

 uncongenial soil for the pear roots, but where it is impracticable to 

 select any but a thin gravel or sand for the growth of this fruit, the 

 dwarf tree is preferable, as the roots of the quince can be confined to 

 a small area, which may be prepared and maintained to meet all the 

 requirements of growth. 



PLANTING. 



Where the soil has been prepared by deep tillage it will not be neces- 

 sary to dig holes deeper then required to merely cover the roots of the 

 plants. In heavy soils that have not been prepared in the most thorough 

 manner the holes should be made wide rather than deep. In gravelly 

 subsoils pits may be dug 18 Inches in depth, the surface soil and the 

 subsoil being thrown out at opposite sides, and filled in equally until 

 the proper height is reached for setting the plant. In either case about 

 a bushel of compost, made up of leaf mould, rotted manure, and light 

 soil, if carefully spread around the roots, will form an admirable root- 

 ing medium; this should be finely pulverized and rather dry than wet 

 when used. 



Deep planting and shallow planting are the injurious extremes in 

 setting trees. The plain and incontrovertible rule is to set the plant 

 so that the point from whence the stem and roots proceed in opposite 

 directions will be about 1 inch below the surface of the ground. It is 

 infinitely better to plant so that future surface dressing may be re- 

 quired to cover the swelling, exposed roots, than to have them buried 

 below the ready influence of atmospheric heat and air. 



